4 month old takes 2 2-3 hour naps and 1 catnap at end of the day, ready for 3-2?

[Nrichie02]

I am new to this and don't know all of the abbreviations or the lingo so I am just going to spell it all out.  I have a 4 month old who has really always been a pretty great sleeper.  She kind of fell into liking 2 long naps (2-3 hours) and a catnap at the end of the day versus the typical 3 1.5 hour naps and catnap at the end of the day and her doc said that was fine so we stuck with it.  As of late, she is really fighting her catnap at the end of the day, which she has never really loved, but dislikes moreso lately and I am wondering if she is ready to drop it and be pushed to a longer awake time? 

I am having a hard time gauging if she is ready as she has always kind of been 2 hours on the dot and shows me tired signs.  This week, she has seemed to start being fine past 2 hours and has gone 3 no problem a couple of times but then others seems exhausted by 2 hours.  If I drop the last catnap, I assume I will need to put her down for bed earlier and am wondering if I should start incorporating a dream feed at 4 months as she has never really had one with having a later catnap (around 6:30/7pm)?  She was never really ready to go to bed until 8:30/9 after that last catnap and then wakes to eat sometime btwn 3:30 and 4:30am.  I am trying to only wake to feed her once so if I bump up her bedtime to around 7:30/8, do I add a dream feed in around 10:30/11?

[Nrichie02]

I should also add that the last 2 days we have stretched her and she has slept great for her first nap but has only slept 40 minutes for the second nap (and refused to go back down with a paci or being rocked)... what does that mean?  That she is not ready or that it will just take time to adjust?  Last night I had to put her down for a longer catnap and then wake her so she would still go back down around 8:30 and am assuming I will have to do the same tonight.  Help!  I am so confused...

[newkidontheblock]

Hi there and welcome:)
I doubt she is ready for 3 hours A time at 4 months - that's a bit much and she would accumulate OT in the process. It's possible that 2 hours is less but add just 10 minutes and see if it makes a difference. Hold at this point before you add any more. There is a sleep regression + long and difficult wonder week at 4 months, so this could simply be a phase (and I think it is) Tired signs do tend to get unreliable as they get older, and it is good to keep an eye on the clock as well.

However, 2 x 2-3 hour naps + a CN does seem like an awful lot of sleep. Could you post what your day looks like. It's possible that you don't even need that CN if her naps are so long. Basically, you need the pm nap ending at a point which doesn't leave too long a gap to bed. You want her nice and relaxed at BT, not awake & jumpy or over tired. If the pm nap ends too early, maybe you could do a short CN - 10-15 minutes only and then proceed with BT routine. If a long CN is pushing your day so late, it is best to tweak it.

We also moved to a routine similar to yours at 4 months. We would get a long first nap and then 2 x 40 minute CNs. I would move straight to BT routine after the evening CN, which was ending at 6 most days. BT was 7pm always. My DD always did her shortest A to bed.

You could definitely incorporate a dreamfeed. We did it till 8 months and it was great!